imnofox today met with a group of Forest & Bird volunteers and allies near the perimeter of the Ruahine Ranges to discuss the Green Party’s comprehensive conservation plan

“Kia ora, everybody- it’s great to have such turnout on what definitely is not the nicest of days!”

“I’m proud to be announcing the Green Party’s comprehensive conservation policy, the largest of any political party in New Zealand. I’m especially proud to be announcing this policy after years of cuts and neglect under the Liberal-National government.”

“That was a government that slashed the integral base funding increases to the Department of Conservation’s budget and the base funding increases of the Predator Control 2050 project. We made huge increases in the funding of these programmes- necessary after decades of neglect. After a term or two of positive outcomes with adequate funding, this government chose revert these increases, leaving a hopeful DoC back with the totally insufficient funding it had. We need to support DoC to enable DoC to do its job.”

“Naturally, we reject those giant steps backwards. Our kiwi, our kōkako, and our mountain kea are indisputably some of the greatest taonga on Earth. Nearly half of our birds are found nowhere else on this green planet, and millions of tourists travel to New Zealand every year to appreciate our pristine wild areas.”

“We all know that our native birds, fish, and wildlife are in significant trouble. A whole third of our birds face extinction, three quarters of our native freshwater fish are threatened with no protection, and many of these could disappear within our lifetimes.

“We are committed to restoring adequate funding for our front-line rangers. We are committed to restoring adequate funding for our predator control projects to meet the predator free 2050 target. We’ll protect our native birds, increasing funding for the predator free 2050 project by introducing a $20 tourism levy on international tourists entering New Zealand, raising $65 million every year to fight pests.”

“We’re committed to introducing a new nationwide program to encourage backyard pest trapping, to ensure that not one inch of New Zealand bush is a dangerous place for our native birds.”

“We also recognise the inherent value in the protection of water quality and quantity in our aquifers and groundwater systems. It’s an issue of national importance that we keep these waterways clean and healthy by placing sensible restrictions on our aquifers and groundwater. We’ll start by placing a 10c/litre levy on all commercial water bottling, and ban all future consents for commercial water bottling.”

“I’d also like to discuss fish for a moment, because, as we know, there is currently no legal protection for our indigenous freshwater fish, despite 75% of our native freshwater fish species being threatened with extinction. Just one native fish species has ever been afforded legal protections, and that was in the 1950s after we’d already driven that species to extinction. We’re excited to introduce the first comprehensive legal protections for our threatened indigenous fish species. We want them to thrive, not suffer.”

“The same goes for our precious ocean life. Almost half of the breeding population of the endangered hoiho on the island sanctuary of Whenua Hoa have disappeared at sea, most likely due to drowning in commercial sea nets. It’s absolutely unacceptable to kill endangered ocean animals, just like it’s absolutely unacceptable to kill tuatara and kiwi. We’ll increase funding for MPI to ensure that there’s more official observers on these set net vessels to prevent crimes like this, and we’ll require all commercial fishing vessels to have cameras installed.”

“We believe strongly in protecting our land, our water, and out native wildlife. All of it is special to us, and to the rest of the world. That’s why we’re banning mining on World Heritage Sites. The health of our land must be nourished and protected so that all life can thrive. We shouldn’t take our native wildlife for granted- we can’t, and we’re shown that again and again. I look forward to a constructive term in government after this election, and I look forward to working with organisations such as Forest & Bird to get the best outcome for our environment. Thank you.”

the volunteers applauded, and then imnofox mingled with the group, answering questions and discussing more conservation policy